Ontario start-ups get an opportunity to target major Silicon Valley influencers and investors at AlwaysOn Stanford Summit 2009

Toronto, July 21, 2009 – MaRS is working with its partners across Ontario to take a delegation of six leading tech companies to Silicon Valley next week to showcase their products for influencers and investors.

The products of these companies solve big problems for a range of industries as diverse as advertising, law enforcement, insurance and television broadcasting. All this generates a lot of interest in places like Silicon Valley. With solutions that do everything from capturing aerial imagery for police departments; measuring the value of social media buzz; sending HD television broadcasts over mobile networks; to more accurate urban GPS tracking.

“More than ever before, our technology start-ups across Ontario need increased market visibility with potential reference customers, investors, industry analysts and other key opinion leaders in major markets, such as Silicon Valley,” said MaRS CEO Ilse Treurnicht. “With our mission focused on building Ontario’s next generation of innovative companies, MaRS is working with its partners to drive targeted business development for high-potential clients in select international markets.”

CEOs from the following companies will be speaking on the main stage at the event and showcasing their technology as part of organized demo sessions set up by MaRS in partnership with the AlwaysOn Stanford Summit. This event provides a unique opportunity to pitch to the Summit audience, increasing their visibility and providing direct access to potential clients and investors.

In advance of the Summit, the MaRS delegation, in conjunction with the Canadian consulate in Palo Alto, will have briefings at Google, Microsoft, and Cisco’s headquarters, in addition to having the opportunity to practice their pitch with seasoned Silicon Valley venture capitalists at other arranged meetings throughout the week.

About MaRSMaRS Discovery District (www.marsdd.com) is a large scale, mission driven innovation centre located in Toronto and networked across Ontario, focused on building Canada’s next generation of technology companies. MaRS works closely with entrepreneurs to grow and scale their ventures into global market leaders in life sciences and health care, information, communications and digital media technologies, cleantech, advanced materials and engineering, as well as innovative social purpose business.